Immortal Beloved

April 18, 2026
Numerica Performing Arts Center

Immortal Beloved is a boldly imagined violin concerto that reclaims a forgotten history hidden within one of classical music’s most enduring mysteries: the identity of the unnamed woman addressed in Beethoven’s impassioned “Immortal Beloved” letter. Through lush orchestration, expressive solo writing, and meticulously embedded musical ciphers, this work gives voice to nine women—artists, muses, and visionaries—whose lives intersected with Beethoven’s, yet who have been largely silenced by history.

Grounded in deep musicological research and illuminated by a contemporary feminist lens, the piece not only explores the personal and political obstacles these women faced, including limited autonomy, forced marriages, and child loss, but also frames their stories in a narrative of resilience and artistic legacy. Quotes, adaptations, and motifs drawn from music connected to them, mostly by Beethoven, and excerpts from the famous letter are transformed through 21st-century techniques, offering a powerful syncretic dialogue across time.

This is not just a tribute; it’s an egalitarian tool. Immortal Beloved ensures these women are no longer footnotes to a man’s genius, but central figures with their own voices, carried into the present with timeless relevance. In honoring their lives and struggles, this concerto becomes a vehicle for equity, remembrance, and artistic justice.

The program also includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.

Program

Nancy Ives • Immortal Beloved, world premiere (Denise Dillenbeck, violin) 

Ludwig van Beethoven • Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92

Nancy Ives and Denise Dillenbeck in Conversation with Denver Philharmonic Orchestra

Andrés Orozco-Estrada conducts Beethoven Symphony No. 7

Guest Artists

  • Nancy Ives

    composer

  • Denise Dillenbeck

    violin